The Difference Between Knowing Things and Being Wise

You could fill an infinite number of books with the things we don't know. But aren't you glad we serve a God who not only knows everything, but is the very source of all wisdom? In this episode of Clearview Today, we continue our Getting to Know God series with the omniscience of God — and the difference it makes that He knows all things, both actual and potential.

We talk about why this attribute is a little bit of both communicable and incommunicable: we'll never be all-knowing like God, and yet He invites us to grow in real knowledge and wisdom. We unpack the crucial difference between the two — knowledge is knowing the facts; wisdom is knowing what to do next — and land on one of the most reassuring truths in the Christian life: you don't have to know everything, you just have to know the One who does. From Psalm 139 to the "foolishness" of the cross in 1 Corinthians 1, we see that God always chooses the best goals and the best means to those goals, even when His wisdom looks like weakness to the world.

The conversation closes where real wisdom always leads — to the simple gospel, and to sharing it. The wise, Daniel says, are those who turn many to righteousness and shine like the stars forever.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:38

You can fill an infinite amount of books with the things in life that we don't know. But aren't you glad? Aren't you so glad we serve a God who not only knows everything, but he's the ultimate source of wisdom.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

That's what we're talking about today on the Clearview Today Show. You're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Ryan Hill.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

I'm John Galantis. Welcome to the Clearview Today studio. We're here with our host, Dr. Abadan Shah. Dr. Shah, we've been talking about the attributes of God. Over here at Clearview Today, we're getting to know God.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Amen. And hopefully our listeners on the Truth Network and Pray.com are also getting to know God. Yes. Right. I mean, we're going into the details of both the communicable and the incommunicable attributes of God. And um, hopefully you're you're not only knowing God more, but loving him as well.

SPEAKER_02 1:29

That's right. Getting to know God impacts and informs every area of your life. It affects the way you treat people, it affects the way you read the Bible, it affects the way you look at yourself in the mirror. And there are some ways where we are like God. You know, we're creating God's image. We talked a little bit about that, but there's lots of ways that we are not like God, that God is very different from us.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

That's right. But this this particular attribute is such where it's a little bit of both. You know, you in a sense, it is incommunicable because God is omniscient, He knows all things, both actual and potential. We're not omniscient. We have a limited breadth of knowledge. Okay. But at the same time, just like God can know, so also we can know. That's right. We can have knowledge, we can have wisdom. So, in that sense, this is one of those attributes where, again, we can never be like God, and yet we can be like Him.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

Kind of like holiness. Like we can't be holy like God is holy. And yet He does call us to be holy.

SPEAKER_02 2:32

Yeah, we can get a little bit closer on this one.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

It's like we see like a little glimpse of God in wisdom. And Dr. Shaw, we've done episodes on wisdom before where wisdom is the one thing. If we had sense enough to pray for it, we would pray for wisdom. So many of us don't. Why do you think that is?

SPEAKER_00 2:47

Well, because uh we either think that, man, I need to read so many more books, or I need to get education, or I need to have someone teach me the the tr the principle of life, or give me this hidden truth that will radically change the way I live and how I see the world and how I make decisions. And that is not the case. Anyone anywhere can be wise if they come to God. Now, when I say wise, I'm not talking about just knowledge. There's a difference between knowledge and wisdom. That's right. Anyone anywhere can be if they come to the living true triune God. So because people feel like I can't, or or sometimes they feel like they know it all. That's also another extreme. Yeah. Where they feel like, man, I know. I know life. Uh let me tell you, I see, I I I I get things. And they don't. Yeah. Yeah. They don't get it.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

Dr. Shah, as we're thinking about the the knowledge of God and God being all-knowing in the sense that he knows all things, both real and potential things, it feels in some ways like that's a conversation that's very short. Like God knows everything. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:59

The end, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:00

The end. But there's there's so much more that's tied up in that, and there's so many different ways that impacts our lives. Where do we begin in that conversation about the knowledge of God and how it how it what it means for us that God knows everything?

SPEAKER_00 4:13

Well, what it means is I may not know, but I know someone who does. Okay. To me, that's one of the greatest assurances that we can have. I don't know it all. I don't know everything about how this world works. I don't know everything about where this world is headed. I don't know how to make every decision, the perfect bullseye choice. I don't know. But I know someone who does. And his name is Jesus. And if I am connected to that person, if I can tap into that person, then I have the assurance that I will also make the wisest decision, the most long-lasting decision. If I am connected to that person. So, in that sense, I may not know, but he does, and that's good enough for me. That's true.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

You know, even in our own lives, we have that network of people where it's like, it's always good to know that, oh, hey, I know a guy who's really good with HVAC stuff. I know a guy who's really good with electricity. I know a guy who's the so even if you're coming to me and I don't have the answer, it always makes you feel more solid and more sure to say, hey, I don't, but I have someone's number. That's right. So also with Jesus, like like you have the the author of the entire universe right there at your disposal. That's right. Right? Right, you can you can approach him at any time. And that that doesn't give us the confidence that it ought to.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

Yeah. Yeah. Psalm 139, verses one through six says, Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thought afar off, you comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, and laid your hand upon me. Now listen to verse six. This is Psalm 139, verse 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high, but I cannot attain it. So what the psalmist is saying here is God, you have such deep knowledge of who I am. I don't even understand myself, but you understand me better than I understand myself. And knowing that truth, knowing that truth is too wonderful for me.

SPEAKER_01 6:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

So, yes, I don't know why I do the things I do. I don't know how this world works. I don't know what's the best, most optimum decision in every situation, but I know someone who does. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:50

Do you think this is poetic language, or do you think this is doctrine, what he what he's saying here, where it's like this type of knowledge is the type of knowledge of wisdom that I can't attain. Or is it just saying, hey, God, you know so much more than I'll ever will?

SPEAKER_00 7:03

I think that's a great question. I think some of uh both, I would say in some sense, uh is knowledge too high. Means I cannot ever attain that. And again, that that's the incommunicable part of this attribute. And then it is too high in the sense it's so beautiful, it is so wonderful, it is so assuring, it is so uplifting to know that someone gets me better than I uh I get myself, and that's okay, and that's good. He he's got like going to a doctor. If I have some health issue going on, going to a doctor, and then while the doctor steps out of the room, I look on the wall and see all the diplomas and all the the certifications and where this person got his degree, his his MD or his specialist degree, just to know that and go, wow, you know what? I mean, uh I will never go to all those hospitals and and and go to those universities and study, but I know this person does. Yeah. And this person is telling me, you'll be okay. Well, I'll tell you what, this is what we're gonna do. Here's a plan of action. This, this, and this.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

I literally had that same yeah, I literally had that exact same feeling this morning when I went, I went to the dentist's office, and my sister actually was the one who was who was working on me, which usually never happens. And I was like, uh, she walked out of the room, I was like, oh man. I looked and I saw all her diplomas on the wall. It's seriously the exact same scenario. I was like, when did this happen?

SPEAKER_02 8:25

Yeah, you know, okay. I I do I do trust that knowledge.

SPEAKER_01 8:27

Yeah, but it made you feel good because uh because on your mind, on your front mind, it's like, well, that's my sister. That's this little girl I've always known. But then you remember, like, no, this is a fully trained dental, you know, dental assistant position.

SPEAKER_02 8:39

Somebody who's gone to school for this.

SPEAKER_00 8:40

When we when we say that that about God, God is wise, it means God always chooses the best goals and the best means to those goals. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 8:50

Ooh, that's good.

SPEAKER_00 8:51

Not just the best goals, but the best means to those goals. God has the best in mind and knows the best way to it.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

That's a great response to people who ask silly questions like that. Well, you know, if this was, if if God is all powerful and all-loving, why wouldn't he just do this? Why wouldn't he just circumvent it to where it does this? It makes perfect sense to me. Yeah, yeah, but it doesn't make perfect sense to God. God knows the exact witness.

SPEAKER_00 9:14

Yeah, you are limited, you are finite, you have blinders, you have blind spots. God doesn't. And he sees everything 360, I don't know, 720. Yeah. I can keep, I can keep uh adding the multiples to it. Uh he knows it all. That's right. And he can see things better than I can. So knowledge, we often trip over this knowledge versus wisdom. And sometimes we try to attribute to God some aspect of knowledge or some aspect of wisdom, but the difference is very important to understand. What is the difference between knowledge and wisdom? Knowledge is to give an illustration, knowledge is the understanding that a tomato is a fruit. Right? That's knowledge. True fruits are developed from the ovary in the base of the flower and contain the seeds of the plants. So is a watermelon. Okay. Green pepper, eggplant, cucumber, squash, they're they're fruit. Wisdom is the understanding that you don't put tomatoes in fruit salads. Right.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

I like that.

SPEAKER_02 10:25

It is a fruit, technically, but you it doesn't belong in a fruit salad.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

It's one of those situations where you don't like you can be right, but nobody's gonna be happy. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:34

Right. So that component, I love that that relationship between knowledge and wisdom because it shows that they are linked. They're not synonymous, but they are they are linked to one another.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Exactly. You know, knowledge is a necessary ingredient of wisdom, but wisdom is much more than knowledge.

SPEAKER_01 10:50

Like you can't be, you can't be wise without having knowledge, but just because you have knowledge don't mean you're wise. Right. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:57

Yeah. With knowledge is the facts. Wisdom is knowing what to do next. Okay. So knowledge, facts, information, memory, wisdom is the next step in life. Wisdom is application, wisdom is action. So when we talk about the omniscience of God, God's wisdom is seen in everything. In creation, you see God's wisdom. Uh the psalm, psalmists talk about that, Proverbs talk about that, Psalm 19, verse 1. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork, how the whole universe is laid out, how the earth functions, how the seas, how the mountains, how the valleys, how the human beings, how the animal kingdom, how how everything functions. That's the handiwork of God. It's seen in creation.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

It's so funny because you know, I was watching this documentary the other night on Chernobyl, the Chernobyl exaster. And for, you know, to understand that, you have to understand like physics and how protons and neutrons and electrons and all these things, nuclear reactions work. And so funny because it always comes back at this point, but but why? Why do protons do that? Why do neutrons do that? And scientists never want to answer, they're always like, they just do.

SPEAKER_02 12:12

So it's interesting that you say that because I saw a video recently of a scientist sitting down to an interview, and they he's he's talking about this interview he had with somebody about an explanation for God. And so the this atheist scientist is pressing him, like, explain this, explain this. And the the the reporter turns it around and says, Well, let me ask you a question. What is what is energy? And the scientist comes up, well, here's how we measure it, and here's how where's it where it comes from, and it's amperage and and jewels and yada yada yada. And he says, No, no, no, that's not what I asked you. What is energy? Yeah, what is it? And the scientist said, What we don't know. Ultimately, we don't know. He said, But you believe in it. Right. And the scientist said, Well, yeah, of course we believe in it. We can measure it out, but he said, so it is with God. I mean, God, God knows it infinitely more than we do.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

Right.

SPEAKER_02 13:01

But just because we can't directly explain it doesn't mean that we don't serve a God who can't.

SPEAKER_00 13:07

That's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. Uh you know, so in wisdom, uh, wisdom is seen in creation, it's seen in salvation. Okay. Uh, how this whole idea of the gospel of Jesus Christ is laid out, that God sent his son in this world to give his life for us, that he was a lamb slain from the foundation of the world, that he became our substitution. He took uh the the wrath of God upon himself and how he gave his life. You know, in First Corinthians chapter one, verse 21, it says, For since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men. Doesn't mean that God is foolish, but the lowest common denominator when it comes to God's wisdom is smarter than the smartest person in the world. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 14:08

What does it mean there when it says it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached?

SPEAKER_00 14:13

Well, it goes on to say here in verse 27. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world, and the things which are despised, God has chosen, and the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are that no flesh should glory in his presence. So let's begin with the cross. The cross is foolishness. Look at this fool. He he led that uprising. He stole, he killed, he he he was abandoned, and now he is hanging on the cross. Look at him, look at him. Horrible choices. What a foolish man. You could have chosen an honest living, but no, you didn't want to work hard, but you wanted to go out there and and disrupt people's lives. What a foolish thing. God chose the cross, a symbol of foolishness to hang his son. Something very simple, basic, makes no sense. But if you think about it, that's us. Those criminals hanging on the cross is us because that's who we are. We are foolish, sinful, stubborn, bullheaded enemies of God. And God took his son and hung him on the cross instead of us. The foolish things, okay, is wiser than men. The weakness of God, as he's hanging on the cross, he was so big and tough. I'm going back to the first century era where when when people were hung on the cross, why were they hung on the cross? Because they were uh rebelling against the Roman Empire or they had done some crime against Roman law. You know, Rome was big on the law. You know, their their laws. Like if you if you are are going to rob people on the Roman road or Roman highways, you're going to hang because Rome is going to make sure that those highways are safe. That's right. Does it mean that robberies never happened? No, they didn't. Jesus even talks about the the Samaritan. Good Samaritan. You know, he was robbed on the road from Jerusalem to I mean the the the Jewish man was robbed on the road to Jerusalem to Jericho. And the Samaritan came in and helped. But again, when they caught those criminals, they hung them to make an example out of them. And when they hung on that cross, they were no longer strong and tough and intimidating and scary. They're foolish. They're foolish. They're weak. Nailed to the cross. Look at the weakness. The Son of God was nailed to the cross. The one who holds this entire universe in the palm of his hands, even that is too much. The one who keeps my heart beating, the one who keeps my brainwaves functioning, the one who keeps the church going, right? The one who keeps his people going to the end of time. Okay. He is hanging on the cross by three to four nails. How in the world? How can he make himself so weak? God made that same person who's hanging on the cross, made the tree that gave the beams of the cross, made the iron ore from which they made those nails, and and the hammers and the hand that crucified and nailed him to it's like he became so weak for us. And then the base things, it talks about the base things of the world and the things which are despised. Means when when you would see those those criminals hanging on the cross, it was a sign of, ooh, let's go another way. Do we have to look at this? The flies buzzing around them. Some of them were already dead by this point. Look at how terrible the sight. Because we're gonna have to face these crucifixions. But God chose that to display his plan of salvation to us. It didn't come with a crown and a throne and regal robes, it came hanging on a cross.

SPEAKER_01 18:52

Talk to us a little bit about the wisdom of that. Because I think someone who's got a maybe a cynical mind, or even someone who just doesn't understand, they would say, That seems foolish to me.

SPEAKER_02 19:01

Yeah, why why that foolishness? Why why did the method of salvation have to involve foolishness?

SPEAKER_00 19:07

Because that sh that was a representation of who we are. That foolishness, that weakness, that baseness is us. We were supposed to hang there. You said, when, when back in the time of Rome? I mean, I wasn't there. What are you talking about? No, God's judgment that is coming against each and every person. That's what's supposed to happen to us for eternity. So by allowing his son to go in our place, okay, we are allowed to go free. We are set free when we receive Jesus as our savior. This is the wisdom of God. Now I know somebody up there will say, okay, this is too much. I wish God would just like give me a piece of paper and say, sign on the dotted line, and you can have salvation. There you go.

SPEAKER_01 20:00

Pay your little membership fee.

SPEAKER_00 20:01

Pay your membership fee. Swipe your card here. Yeah. Say I believe in God and then keep on rolling. Yep. Or just like in Islam, you know, there is one, no, no other God, but Allah Muhammad is his prophet. Can we just say that and kind of go on into heaven? No. You have to come by the way of the cross. Yeah. That's God's wisdom. It's very simple. Now we complicate it, complicate it, but it's really the gospel is very simple. That's right. So he has chosen this. And our job as a church or as an individual or as a pastor is to explain the simplicity of the gospel. That Jesus took the punishment of your sins upon himself. And so when you receive him as your savior, you can be saved. That is the wisdom of God.

SPEAKER_02 20:49

You see sometimes people who are self-proclaimed, like I don't know, bookworms or people who are just super hyper intellectual. Oftentimes they'll overcomplicate things. They'll make you know all these steps and all these standards and procedures way more complex and complicated than maybe even sometimes they need to be. But God who is all-knowing, God who has all knowledge, all wisdom, has created such a simple, yeah, a simple way to Him, a simple means of salvation.

SPEAKER_01 21:20

Well, you're with academics all the time. I mean, you you live in the world of academia. And I know I don't know, you don't get to say no names or nothing, but I know that you've said plenty of times there's plenty of academics who lack a lot of common sense. Right. You know, and and maybe that's the sense that we we think mistakenly that if I've got wisdom, it's it's complicated. And I see all the shades of gray and I see all the different paths that things could go wrong when really God's wisdom is very simple. Right.

SPEAKER_00 21:46

Oh, yes, it is.

SPEAKER_01 21:47

Why is why is it why do you think it's hard for us to grasp that, that simplicity?

SPEAKER_00 21:51

Because we think there got there can be a better way. And and just the way human beings think that that this creation just happened. Okay, this is just a product of evolution or some big bang or whatever is in vogue now about how this world came to be. So we we think we can do a better job than God in creation, we can do a better job than God in salvation. And I'm like, okay, produce it.

SPEAKER_01 22:22

Try to get theoretical. I mean, it only works on paper.

SPEAKER_00 22:26

Try to create one ounce of dirt in your own wisdom, in your own knowledge. You can't do it. No. And and I would tag along with that, try to create. Create a means of salvation that is real, viable, and eternal. You can't do it. Now I'm I'm calling people who are philosophical or who have knowledge or who consider themselves well read and wise and educated. Yes, try. Bring me a system of religion, a system of philosophy that you feel like, man, this is an airtight system and it works. No, there isn't one. Buddhism doesn't believe in God. Hinduism, what happens to us? We just kind of merge into the unknown. Islam. Yeah, you can repeat the shahada, which I just mentioned a few minutes ago. There is no other God but Allah, Muhammad is his prophet, but that doesn't guarantee you heaven. Right. On the day of judgment, there is it's only God in his sovereign will, or Allah in his sovereign sovereign will will maybe let you in, or maybe not. It all depends on his desire. Yeah. So just by repeating the shahada or keeping the five pillars of Islam, or sometimes people, this anecdotal idea that if I kill so many people, then I can for in the name of Islam that I can go to heaven and have all those virgins and all that. Those are anecdotals. That's not how real Islam works. Real Islam is you can do all these things right, but on the day of judgment, you are on one side and God is on the other, underneath is hell, and there's a bridge that is finer than your human hair, sharper than a sword, and you have to walk across it. Now, who in the world can do that? Yeah, I was about to say, like tracking all those variables, and that's not possible.

SPEAKER_01 24:31

So only Allah can hold you up, and it's up to him whether he does.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

Right, and there's no guarantee that he will. So you can do all that. You can do all the Muhammad is his prophet and give give you tithes, or they give like 2.5%, whatever. But on that day, it's all up to him. So bring me an airtight, viable, eternal system that actually works. There isn't one. So when people say all roads lead to the same God, all roads are just different ways. I'm like, have you tried those roads?

SPEAKER_01 25:07

You haven't even traveled down one of those.

SPEAKER_00 25:09

Not even one of them. So all what are we saying here? When we talk about the omniscience of God, we're saying that God is all-wise. That's right. Actual and potential. We see that in creation, but we also see that in salvation.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

We got about five minutes left, Dr. Shah. How does that help me? If God is all wise, I want to be wise, and I'm praying for wisdom. I don't feel much wiser. I don't feel like I'm making good choices in my life. Even though I might be praying for wisdom, I'm reading my Bible. How do I know that the wisdom of God is coming upon me?

SPEAKER_00 25:47

Well, you know, the Bible talks about if you seek God, you'll find him. If you seek him with all your heart. So you have to seek after him. I'm not saying seek after him to be saved. Seek after him to grow in your knowledge, seek after him to grow in wisdom. His word gives you his heart. And so if you want to have wisdom, heavenly wisdom, get into God's word. Read it on a day daily basis, meditate upon it, pray with it, hear godly biblical preaching. Get around people who desire nothing more than to love the Word of God, the Bible. Get around people who want to know the heart of God. Get around people who desire to please Jesus Christ more than anyone or anything else. And you will grow in that wisdom. You'll grow in that knowledge. And it will begin to impact every area of your life, your relationships, your financial decisions, your future decisions. It's going to impact everything. And more than anything, I hope it will challenge you and encourage you to share the gospel with you. That that is that is the greatest act of wisdom. And and uh we're not done talking about omniscience. Maybe we maybe we will need another episode for this. But Daniel talks about this. The wise are those who who who bring many to salvation. They're the ones who shine like the stars forever, who turn many to righteousness. I would say who bring many to Christ. Amen. They're the ones who are wise. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 27:28

That's certainly our heart on the Clear Weat Today show is to shine with the wisdom of God in such a way that it would draw you to a saving knowledge of who God is. This all-knowing, all-wise God loves you, knows you intimately, knows you inside and out better than you know yourself, and has even before you were born created the way of salvation for us.

SPEAKER_01 27:46

That's right. And that's why we want you listening to this show that so that you grow in your wisdom. You know, you want to make better decisions in your life. It's not that God is just gonna magically put some sort of magic dust on you, some lucky potion that's gonna make you make all the right decisions. You're gonna slowly grow in wisdom because you're gonna see him more clearly. That's the whole point of the show. That's why it's called Clearview Today.

SPEAKER_02 28:05

That's right. And one of the ways you can help us do that is by subscribing to the show. Anywhere podcasting content can be found. Lots of ways that you can do that. And the reason we tell you to do that is because you can share these episodes with your friends and your family members. It's not just meant to be it to end with you, but so that you can spread these episodes around to your friends and family, people who would benefit from the things that we talk about on the Clearview Today show. You can also do that by supporting the show financially. You can do that in the description box where it says support the show, or you can head on over to uh over to Abadanshot.com forward slash give and become a financial supporter of the Clearview Today Show. It's through gifts from people just like you that we're able to do what we do and connect people with our all-knowing, all-wise, all loving God.

SPEAKER_01 28:44

That's right. Big thank you to all of our monthly sponsors over on pray.com, uh, on abadonshad.com bus route. Thank you so much for supporting the show. And if you're interested in becoming a sponsor, you can always reach out at info at clearviewbc.org, or you can text us today, T-O-D-A-Y to 252 429 6069.

SPEAKER_02 29:02

That's right. We love you guys. We'll see you tomorrow on Clearview today.